In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea, attempting to seize a portion of Ukraine. While the world watchedin outrage, this blatant violation of national sovereignty was onlythe latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russiannation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy reveals the central role Ukraine playsin Russia’s identity, both as an “other” to distinguish Russia, and as part of a pan-Slavic conceptualization used to legitimize territorial expansion and political control. Spanning over 500 years, from the end of the Mongol rule to the present day, Plokhy shows how leaders from Ivan the Terrible to Joseph Stalin to Vladimir Putinexploited existing forms of identity, warfare, and territorial expansion to achieve imperial supremacy.